Not a white board. Not a green board. It has to be a black board. And the board has to be super clean. Not erased with a lot of chalk residue and pentimento all over it. There is something so awesome, maybe even dramatic, about taking a piece of white chalk and scratching out information on it. It has become a kind of meditation, a graphic mantra, I do before school every day. It’s where I plan our day. It gets me centered and ready for the onslaught of middle school energy that will soon come bursting through the doors. Writing on a blackboard is one of the major reasons (aside from the students of course) that I became a teacher.
I guess you can tell by looking at this particular board that we are juggling quite a few balls right now.
Nexus 
You know they have “black board” paint. You can paint a door in your kitchen or studio and decorate it every day when you are retired! Knowing me, you won’t be surprised that on my black board, when I taught, on one of the square sections by the door (the board had seams,) I “magic markered parallel horizontal lines three inches apart from the top of the board to the chalk ledge. Here is where I put my day’s comments, work lists, preps, etc. I never drew pictures or did that list in free form … but I did use colored chalk often! And you are right about having an absolutely clean board to start off each day, never white dust and smudges and wipes all over!
Yes. I know about blackboard paint. Isaac used to have a whole wall painted with it in his room. Hmmm. Hadn’t thought about a wall for me. I’m on it!
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There is something so poetic about “puffs of edit,” isn’t there?
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I LOVE THE
PUFFS OF
EDIT